Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Prayer has been central to
the Church’s observance of Respect Life Month each October since 1972. We pray
for the protection of human lives wherever they are threatened, for our nation
and leaders, and for God’s mercy toward those who have taken innocent lives,
promoted such killing, or neglected to care for the most vulnerable.

This Respect Life Month, we
face an unprecedented new threat. Ever since the Bill of Rights was ratified,
Americans have enjoyed the assurance that the Constitution secured our
God-given rights to religious liberty and freedom of conscience. But in 2011,
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that virtually
all employers will be required to include sterilization, abortifacient drugs
and contraceptives in the health care plans offered to employees. Only the
narrowest and most inadequate provision was made to accommodate employers or
employees who object in conscience to that coverage.

In light of this and other
threats, the bishops urged an intensification of prayer and fasting for
religious freedom in our country. New prayer resources (tinyurl.com/7uhcf7z)
are now available in English and Spanish to help us learn more about our
forebears in the faith, call upon their heavenly intercession, and follow their
example of courage in the face of adversity.

The “Rosary Novena for Life and Liberty” is meant
for use in parishes and homes from Sunday, October 14 through Monday the 22nd.
Available as a 2-sided booklet (English/en español) and also in a simpler one-sided
format (English/en español), the novena highlights the
courageous saints who witnessed to our faith, to the sanctity of every human
life, and to religious liberty and conscience in our country. Among them are
the North American Martyrs—St. Isaac Jogues and companions—who were slain for
their faith in Christ; Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk maiden who was also
persecuted; Mother Marianne Cope, OSF who spent 35 years in Hawaii caring for
the needs of women and girls with leprosy; and Pedro Calungsod, a missionary
catechist who was martyred in Guam, now a U.S. territory, while still in his
teens.

In addition to praying the
novena privately or with others, consider making a pilgrimage this October – or
at some point during the Year of Faith – to one of the shrines and devotional
sites throughout the United States dedicated to our Blessed Mother and many
remarkable saints. A list will be posted with our other prayer resources.

Those in the greater
Washington, DC Metro area are invited to attend the Mass and Pilgrimage for Life and Liberty on
Sunday, October 14, at 12:00 noon (Eastern) at the Basilica of the National Shrine
of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. A plenary indulgence may be gained
through participation, provided the usual conditions are met. It includes
Sunday Mass, opportunities for Confession and Eucharistic adoration, and the
first day of the rosary novena. It will be televised live on EWTN. For more
details, visit our Facebook event page or the bishops’ page on
religious liberty: www.usccb.org/freedom.

Finally, the Prayer for
Religious Liberty, distributed during the Fortnight for Freedom this summer,
has been incorporated into a special “Holy Hour for Life and Liberty” for use in
parish churches, Catholic schools and hospital chapels. It entrusts the
protection of life and the defense of religious liberty to the Lord present in
the Eucharist.

However you join the
bishops in prayer for life and liberty this month, may we have “a clear and
united voice” so that this great land will always be “one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

LifeNews Note: Deirdre
McQuade is Assistant Director for Policy & Communications at the
Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.